Luke 8:31

8:31 the bottomless pit: The Greek word abussos means “bottomless” and often refers to the underworld prison of evil spirits or fallen angels (Rev 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3; cp. 2 Pet 2:4). The metaphor is taken from the apparently bottomless depth of the ocean (the ancients had no means for sounding the ocean depths, so to them it was bottomless).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 8:31. Εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον, into the deep) תהם, LXX. ἄβυσσος; often; comp. Rev 9:11; Rev 20:3. In the deep or abyss, 1) They are not worshipped by bad men; 2) They cannot injure men; 3) They feed (brood) upon their own wretchedness, and do not, however, as yet seem to be tortured in that place of confinement. The power of Jesus Christ extends over animals, demons, and the abyss: and the demons acknowledged the fact.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 8:31 . εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον , into the abyss (of Tartarus) instead of Mk.’s ἔξω τῆς χώρας , out of Decapolis.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 31. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.] In the Chaldaic philosophy, mention is made of certain material demons, who are permitted to wander about on the earth, and are horribly afraid of being sent into abysses and subterranean places. Psellus says, De Daemonibus: "These material demons fearing to be sent into abysses, and standing in awe of the angels who send them thither, if even a man threaten to send them thither and pronounce the names of those angels whose office that is, it is inexpressible how much they will be affrighted and troubled. So great will their astonishment be, that they cannot discern the person that threatens them. And though it be some old woman or little old man that menaces them, yet so great is their fear that they depart as if the person who menaces had a power to kill them." See Stanley's Chaldaic Philosophy.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(31) To go out into the deep.—Better, into the abyss. The word is not found in the other Gospels, and it clearly means, not the deep waters of the Galilean lake, but the pit, the “bottomless pit” of Rev_9:1-2; Rev_9:11. The man, identifying himself with the demons, asks for any doom rather than that.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. they besought] If parekalei be the right reading, it should be rendered “he besought Him,” for the plural is used in the next verse.

to go out into the deep] The ‘abyss’ (Hebrew tehom) intended is perhaps the prison of wicked spirits (Rom_10:7; Judges 6; Rev_20:3).

St Mark says “that He would not send them out of the country.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was there an herd of many swine,.... About two thousand, Mar 5:13,

Feeding on the mountain; See Gill on Mar 5:11.

And they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them; which they could not do, without his leave:

and he suffered them: See Gill on Mar 5:12, Mar 5:13

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

Ver. 31. To go out into the deep] i.e. Hell, that bottomless deep, Rev 20:3; 2Pe 2:4, where they could do no more hurt: which would be another hell unto them. Augustus, consulting Apollo’s oracle, was told, that a Hebrew child had stopped his mouth, and sent him with a mittimus {a} to hell, &c. (Pucer de Orac.)

{a} A warrant under the hand and seal of a justice of the peace or other proper officer, directed to the keeper of a prison, ordering him to receive into custody and hold in safe-keeping, until delivered in due course of law, the person sent and specified in the warrant. ŒD

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. This time the voice and the request apparently proceed from the terrible presence which had made the soul of the unhappy man their temporary habitation. The direful confusion in the state of the poor demoniac is shown by this request. By whom was it made? The bystanders could discern no difference between the possessed and the spirits dwelling in the afflicted human being. So St. Mark, in his relation, puts these words into the demoniac"s mouth, "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country;" apparently here partly conscious of his own personal being, and partly identifying himself with the demoniac forces which were afflicting him. The request is a strange one, and suggests much anxious thought. What is the abyss these rebel-spirits dreaded with so great a dread? It would seem as though, to use Godet"s thought, that for beings alienated from God, the power of acting on the world is a temporary solace to their unrest, and that to be deprived of this power is for them just what a return to prison is for the captive. St. Mark"s expression here is a curious one. He represents the spirits requesting Jesus "not to send them away out of the country." The two accounts put together tell us that these spirits were aware, if they were driven out of the country whatever that expression signified, this earth possibly they must go out into the deep, the abyss, what is called "the bottomless pit" in Rev_9:1, Rev_9:2, Rev_9:11. Any doom seemed to these lost ones preferable to that. The whole train of thought suggested by the incident and the words of the Lord is very terrible. We see at least one reason why the first preachers of the Word have selected this exorcism. It indeed lifts a bit of the curtain which hangs between us and the night of endless woe!

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The abyss - That is, the bottomless pit.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

31. παρεκάλουν. If παρεκάλει be the right reading, it should be rendered “he besought Him,” for the plural is used in the next verse.

εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον. The ‘abyss’ (Hebrew tehôm) intended is perhaps the prison of wicked spirits (Rom 10:7; Jud 1:6; Rev 20:3). St Mark says “that He would not send them out of the country.”

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. τ. ἄβυσσον] This word is sometimes used for Hades in general (Rom 10:7), but more usually in Scripture for the abode of damned spirits: see reff. This last is certainly meant here—for the request is co-ordinate with the fear of torment expressed above (see Greswell on the Parables, v. (pt. 2) 365, and note on ch. 16:23). But, as Bp. Wordsw. remarks, we must distinguish between ἄβυσσος, the ad interim place of torment, and the lake of fire into which the devil will be cast by Christ at the end: see Rev 20:3, Rev 20:10.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. παρεκάλουν αὐτόν αὐτόν. “They kept beseeching Him.” The plurality of those who ask is emphatically marked: with δαιμόνια we might have expected παρεκάλει, as in Mk. The plur. would have been less noticeable in Mk., because the masc. plur., πολλοί ἐσμεν, precedes.

That παρεκάλουν (א B C D F L S, Latt. Goth.) and not παρεκάλει is right here, need not be doubted.

εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον. In class. Grk. ἄβυσσος is always an adj, “bottomless, boundless,” and is mostly poetical. In LXX ἡ ἄβυσσος is used of the sea (Gen 1:2, Gen 1:7:11; Job 41:22, Job 41:23); without the art. (Job 28:14, 36:16; Ecclus. 13, 16:18); of the depths of the earth (Psa 71:20; Deu 8:7); but perhaps nowhere of Hades. In N.T. it means Hades (Rom 10:7), and esp. the penal part of it which is the abode of demons (Rev 9:1-11, Rev 9:11:7, Rev 9:17:8, Rev 9:20:1, Rev 9:3). The latter is the meaning here. The demons dread being sent to their place of punishment. See Crem. Lex. sub v. In Mk. the petition is “that He will not send them out of the country”; but the verb is sing. and the man is the petitioner. He still confuses himself with the demons, and desires to stay where he feels at home. This is their wish and his also. The persistent confusion of personality renders it necessary that the man should have some decisive evidence of the departure of the evil spirits from him. In this way his cure will be effected with least suffering, Prof. Marshall thinks that εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον and ἔξω τῆς χώρας may represent Aramaic expressions so nearly alike as readily to be confounded by copyist or translator (Expositor, Nov. 1891 p. 377). See footnote on 5:31

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Command them. The plural, referring to the legion.

The deep [αβυσσον] . Lit., the bottomless. Transcribed into our abyss, as Rev. Mark has a quite different request, that he would not send them out of the country (v. 10). In Rom 10:7, used of Hades, to which Christ descended; and in Revelation always of the bottomless pit. The demons refer to their place of abode and torment.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.